


Goodnight my dear child

by Cerbero2518



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:01:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29800569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerbero2518/pseuds/Cerbero2518
Summary: What would have happened if Dumbledore hadn't found Harry in front of the mirror of erised on the first night?
Kudos: 8





	Goodnight my dear child

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language. I did my best, please forgive my mistakes and feel free to suggest corrections.

Goodnight my dear child

What would have happened if Dumbledore hadn't found Harry in front of the mirror of erised on the first night?

Hogwarts, Christmas night 1991

Severus Snape did not hate Christmas as much as his students thought.  
He had had a great time with his mother or his friends, the Christmas parties at Malfoy manor were spectacular. In recent years, however, he had had no reason to be happy or want to celebrate.  
He had agreed to take the night patrol shift of the corridors, many professors were at home celebrating, even the headmaster had gone to see his brother. He had nowhere to go, it was just a night like many others.  
The students were in their dorms digesting the Christmas feast provided by the elves, it would be a quiet night.

He did not mind working the night shift even though it was particularly cold that evening, it had snowed heavily and the castle was freezing cold. He wore his usual black cloak to which he had added his old Slytherin scarf from when he was a student.  
He would have liked to take a sip of whiskey to warm himself up, but he was aware that he didn't handle the alcohol well, there was no need to be seen around drunk, his reputation was already pretty bad. He had never been a sweet and understanding professor, but he was aware that he had been particularly hard that year, and he knew very well why: Harry Potter, the child who lived, the saviour of the wizarding world had arrived at Hogwarts.  
An arrogant kid, obviously Gryffindor, who rejoiced in his fame.  
Severus called himself stupid, that was James Potter, his father, who was he kidding? It was obvious that the boy had nothing to do with it, he had hardly even met his parents. And as if that wasn't enough he was one of the main reasons Harry Potter was an orphan, he had revealed that cursed prophecy to the Dark Lord and as usual he had ruined everything. Then he tried to fix it and made things even worse in the most definitive way possible.

Thoughtful Severus had wandered around the castle until he was almost lost, he had lived in that place for many years but it was so big that sometimes he still got lost, however he had to be somewhere on the fourth floor.  
He was looking for stairs to go down to the dungeons, he wanted to have a look at the Slytherin common room, they often threw unauthorized parties during the holidays, when he noticed a small light coming from an open classroom.  
It could have been a colleague or a student who was hanging out in the castle at night, he decided to go and check, after all it was his job.  
He then entered a small abandoned classroom, he did not seem to have ever entered it.  
The light came from an abandoned lantern in a corner.  
Severus looked around and because of the darkness it took him a couple of seconds to recognize the shapes in the room. He could see a large mirror with an elaborate gold frame and in front of it a child curled up on the floor, apparently asleep.  
The man approached intending to wake up the boy but just before opening his mouth he took a look in the mirror and immediately fell silent: Lily Evans was there and was greeting him. He turned around, but he was alone, obviously there was no one else in that room. It must have been some magical artefact, dark magic probably. Was it perhaps a mirror built to make those who look inside suffer?  
Then he realized an inscription " Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi ", what language was that?  
Of course " I show not your face but your heart's desire," after all it was a mirror.  
So he saw what he wanted: Lily of course, Lily alive and happy.  
He had almost forgotten how sweet her smile was, his Lily always smiled, she always found a reason to be happy, exactly the opposite of him. Severus did not cry easily but at that moment a couple of tears fell from his eyes. He had killed her how could he pretend to love her?

He was standing in front of the mirror, took a few steps forward to touch the woman who smiled at him when he hit something with his foot.  
Of course the kid, he had almost forgotten about him.  
He was a skinny child, probably a first year, wearing an old striped pyjama definitely not his size, but he couldn't recognize him in the dark.  
"Lumos"  
Potter, damn little Potter, what was he doing there alone in the cold?  
He must have been mesmerized by the mirror, maybe he was seeing Lily too.  
He was just a child who spent Christmas Eve asleep next to his parents or at least something that looked like them.  
He couldn't wake him abruptly and scold him, not in front of Lily.  
So Severus, in a rare, if not unique, moment of sweetness, picked up Harry and, after taking one last look in the mirror, carried him out of there.  
How could he be so light at eleven?  
Hadn't the Dursleys given him enough to eat?  
Petunia had never particularly loved her sister, but he couldn't believe that she had mistreated the last remaining part of her.  
The man managed to find the stairs and made his way to the Gryffindor tower.  
The Fat Lady let him pass without asking him for the password, after all he was a professor.  
The common room was deserted, he had rarely entered it as a teacher, he didn't like it very much: it was smaller than the Slytherin's, too red and gold for his taste. He had often wondered how his life would have gone if he had been sorted into Gryffindor, maybe he would even be Potter's friend, maybe he wouldn't have lost Lily forever. Useless thoughts, he had to put the boy to bed and get out of there quickly.  
He was definitely going to drink more than a glass of whiskey that night.

He took the stairs to the first-year dorm, slowly opened the door, and entered the small circular room. There was a slight snoring from four of the five beds, he walked over to the only empty one and placed the little boy that he covered as best he could, he didn't have much experience with that kind of things.  
Harry hadn't woken up on the way, or so it had seemed.  
He was so small and helpless. How could he have defeated the dark lord?  
He was about to leave when he heard a little voice: "Mom?"  
Had Potter woken up after all the effort he'd put in?  
The man leaned forward slightly, no he was still sleeping, was he dreaming or maybe having a nightmare?  
Did he have to do something? He could only think of what his mother would do in that circumstance, so Severus went back to the bed, bent down, gave Harry a light kiss on the forehead and whispered, "Goodnight my dear child."  
Then he walked away quickly, he was not used to that sweetness, only Lily could have made him do such a thing.

Severus Snape never looked for that mirror again and never spoke about it.


End file.
